Do you have sciatica (tenderness and pain anywhere along the sciatic nerve, typically showing up on one side of the body)? This is a problem as old as mankind itself, and it often has much to do with our postural habits. Our latest digital workshop, "Yoga to Soothe Sciatica" with expert teacher Doug Keller, will help you understand where your sciatica could be coming from (i.e., what daily habits can lead to or aggravate sciatica as well as where it originates in the body).

The benefits of mindfulness meditation, increasingly popular in recent years, are supposed to be many: reduced stress and risk for various diseases, improved well-being, a rewired brain. But the experimental bases to support these claims have been few. Supporters of the practice have relied on very small samples of unrepresentative subjects, like isolated Buddhist monks who spend hours meditating every day, or on studies that generally were not randomized and did not include placebo­ control groups.

Most of us spend a significant amount of time focusing our attention outside our bodies, either intentionally or unintentionally. Even those experiencing body dysmorphic disorder, described by the Anxiety and Depression Association of America as “a body-image disorder characterized by persistent and intrusive preoccupations with an imagined or slight defect in one's appearance,” may, in fact, be having a disembodied experience in spite of their seeming obsession with the body itself.

Yoga enthusiasts link the practice to a long list of health benefits, including greater flexibility and range of motion, stronger muscles, better posture and balance, reduced emotional and physical stress, and increased self-awareness and self-esteem.